


All A Mistake

by hedgehogthewriter



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Gen, Mystery, basically this is my attempt to explain all the changes in the show, will add more characters and tags if they come up in later chapters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-02-16
Packaged: 2018-09-23 11:39:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9655877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hedgehogthewriter/pseuds/hedgehogthewriter
Summary: Everything in Riverdale is not as it should be. People are acting differently than they should, crazy things are happening, and there is a general darkness surrounding the town that shouldn't be there. Betty and Jughead are on a mission to find out why.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I got this idea after getting annoyed with all the changes from the comics in the show. Basically my inspiration came from trying to explain the reason behind all the changes in the show, and explain that there IS a reason for all the changes. This takes place after 1x03, and partially includes scenes from the 1x04 trailer (though they may be a little different, because I don't have full context of the clips from the trailer).

Betty tapped her pen against the table, brainstorming ideas for the next issue of the school paper that she was preparing. So far she'd only been able to recruit Jughead to join her, so the two of them had to work a lot harder on the paper than they normally should have to. At the moment, the two of them were trying to come up with the next big story, that would shock their readers into thinking about something. The only problem was that neither of them had any idea what to write about.

Betty sighed. She couldn't focus on anything that might serve as a good story for the paper, she just kept thinking about everything weird that was going on in Riverdale.

"Does it ever seem like there's something wrong with Riverdale?" She asked, almost not realizing she was saying it aloud.

Jughead looked up from his laptop and eyed Betty warily. "I think there's something wrong with Riverdale every day."

Betty rolled her eyes. "No, I don't just mean, like, something wrong. I mean, does it ever feel like this isn't how Riverdale is supposed to be? I mean, everything used to be so happy and easy and… normal. Now Jason Blossom is dead, everyone is paranoid, you stopped making jokes all the time… I don't know. It just feels like there's something wrong with the town."

Jughead furrowed his brow, and Betty worried that he was about to tell her that she sounded crazy, but those words never came. Instead, Jughead replied, "you're right."

Betty blinked in surprise. "You actually agree with me?"

He nodded slowly. "Yeah, I mean, Archie seems totally different this year, too. Remember, he used to be so awkward and dorky and… actually our friend. Now he's… well, you've seen how he is."

Betty lowered her gaze. She didn't like to think of the way Archie had been acting this year, but she always just attributed it to growing up. People grow up, and people grow apart. There didn't have to be any reason for it. But if she was right that there was something strange going on in Riverdale…

She shook her head. "It's just a stupid theory. I'm sure people have just changed. Maybe we've just grown up, and are starting to see the world as it is, instead of seeing everything as happy and joyful. Maybe it's just us."

Jughead looked like he wanted to disagree, but Betty stood up, gathered her things, and left. She didn't want to talk or think about her weird theory anymore.

And Jughead didn't bring it up again, at least, not for a week.

* * *

Jughead found Betty sitting at one of the lunch tables outside the school.

"Betty, there's something you need to see," Jughead announced, slamming a folder on the table in front of her.

Betty rolled her eyes as she eyed the front of the folder. "What is this, Jug?"

"It's not hard proof, but it's some evidence supporting your theory about Riverdale from last week."

Betty tilted her head. "What theory?" She paused for a minute, trying to recollect what he was talking about. "You mean that crazy thing I was talking about? It didn't mean anything, Jughead, I was just upset. I was just projecting my feelings about the year onto the entire town."

Jughead shook his head as he took the seat opposite Betty's. "Just look in the folder."

Betty opened the folder and pulled out a copy of a driver's license, as well as an old news article dated seven years ago. She eyed the driver's license, and almost dropped it when she saw the picture on it. "Why do you have Ms. Grundy's driver's license?" She whispered, worried someone would find them and arrest them for theft.

Jughead leaned in closer. "Look at the name on the license."

She looked once more at the license. "Jennifer Gibson," she read. She looked up at Jughead. "Why would Ms. Grundy have a fake I.D.?"

"Now look at the news article," Jughead replied, tilting his head.

Betty picked up the article and skimmed through it. It was an obituary talking about the death of Mrs. Geraldine Grundy, who died seven years ago. The article stated that the woman had no known living relatives. She glanced back up at Jughead. "But what does this mean?"

"It means the Ms. Grundy we know isn't really Ms. Grundy."

"Why did you even go searching for this? This is crazy!"

Jughead sighed. "Well, I was thinking. You said that this town isn't what it used to be, and I agree. Everything seems different, so I tried to place when exactly it started to feel different. I realized that the first two weeks of freshman year were normal, but after that, everything started to feel different. I have a hard time remembering the start of last year, or anything before it. I mean, I remember general things, but most specific memories are more of a blur. So then I tried to figure out what changed in the beginning of freshman year."

Betty looked away, trying to think of what had changed. She gasped. "Ms. Grundy showed up a few weeks into freshman year." She furrowed her brow, suddenly curious. "She just showed up out of the blue, and everyone seemed to act like it was perfectly normal. I don't remember thinking there was anything weird about it at the time. But now that I think of it…"

Jughead nodded slowly.

Betty's eyes widened. "We need to find out more information about Ms. Grundy."

Jughead nodded slowly, as though sarcastically. "I know, why do you think I showed all this to you?"

Betty shook her head. "I'm going to show this to Veronica. She can help me get into Ms. Grundy's office. Then we can see what else we can find."

Jughead nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Let me know what you find."

* * *

That night, Betty and Veronica stood once again in the silent, darkened halls of Riverdale High School.

"So what are we looking for again?" Veronica asked. While she appreciated being included in Betty's plans, she was wary of their purpose for breaking and entering into the school for the second time.

"We're looking for anything that proves that Ms. Grundy isn't who she says she is. Something that could show us why she just showed up in Riverdale all of a sudden last year," Betty explained, not for the first time that night.

The girls made their way over to Ms. Grundy's classroom and opened the door slowly. They went over to her desk and each took a side of drawers, searching the contents.

Veronica found nothing but common office supplies and paperwork in the top two drawers on her side, and considering Betty hadn't said anything, she wasn't finding anything, either. Veronica moved to open the third and final drawer on the bottom of her side of the desk, but it was locked.

She looked over to Betty. "It's locked," she explained.

Betty stared at her with wide eyes for a moment. "It could just be personal items that she doesn't want nosy students to find."

Veronica tilted her head and pursed her lips. "Or it could be part of her secret identity." Veronica pulled out a bobby pin from her hair and opened it up with her teeth. She jammed one side of the bobby pin into the lock and began picking it.

"Do I even want to know how you know how to pick a lock?" Betty asked.

Veronica smirked. "Probably not."

The drawer pulled open and Betty and Veronica peered over the side to look at its contents.

There was only a single comic book inside. Betty and Veronica shared a look before Betty reached in to pick up the comic book.

"Archie Comics?" She asked.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. I really meant to finish writing this and post it an hour or two after I posted chapter 1, not take an entire extra day. Sorry about that. But it's here now. I think this chapter further explains my direction with this story, but maybe it's still a little vague. But I hope you like it!

"Archie Comics?" Betty asked incredulously. "What is this?"

Veronica grabbed the comic book out of Betty's hand. She flipped through some of the pages. "It's a comic book about Riverdale High School." She looked up at Betty, eyes wide in amazement. "We're all in it."

Betty took the book back and looked at it. She felt her heartbeat quickening as she read some of the pages. "I mean, these are our names, and they kind of look like us, but none of this has happened." She paused, trying to figure out what to do about this crazy development. When she'd made the plan to break into Ms. Grundy's office, this was certainly not what she'd expected to find. Not that she'd had any real idea what she was looking for, but… "I need to show this to Jughead."

The next day, Betty and Veronica met up with Jughead in the classroom for the school newspaper. Betty waited as Jughead skimmed through the comic book. He gave a small chuckle. "I remember that crown. I used to wear it to school every day, until…" He trailed off and Betty raised an eyebrow as she waited for him to finish what he was saying. Jughead looked back up and met Betty's gaze. "I wore that crown every day until about a few weeks into freshman year, when I switched it out for this beanie. Right around the time Ms. Grundy showed up."

"That's also when you started thinking about becoming a writer, right?" Betty inquired.

Jughead nodded. "Yeah, before that, all I was really interested in was… food. And just messing around." He had a faraway look, as though he were thinking deeply about the past. "I miss those days. Everything was so much easier."

"I wasn't even here last year, but I'm in the book," Veronica comments. "How does that make any sense?"

Jughead shook his head and looked up at Betty. "You were saying last week that everything seems different than it's supposed to be. The whole town feels like something major has changed. What if this," he held up the comic book for emphasis, "is how this year was supposed to happen. What if this book showcases how are lives were supposed to be, and someone has come along to change it all."

"And you think Ms. Grundy—or Jennifer Gibson—is the one who's changed everything?" Betty asked.

Jughead shrugged. "I don't know. But I do know that she showed up in town out of thin air. And nothing has been the same since she showed up. And why would she assume the identity of Geraldine Grundy? The Ms. Grundy in the comic book is an old lady, probably the same Geraldine Grundy who died seven years ago."

"But if she died seven years ago, then she wouldn't have been here for the comic book to be true anyway," Veronica pointed out.

Jughead leaned in closer. "Unless Jennifer Gibson has been planning this—whatever this is—for a lot longer than just a year."

Betty sighed and leaned back in her seat. "So what do we do now?"

Veronica and Jughead were silent, evidently not having any clue what their next plan of action should be.

"Oh my god," Jughead murmured after a minute or two.

"What?" Betty asked, straightening to attention. She was made curious by the surprised and almost nervous look on Jughead's face.

Jughead looked up at Betty, and seemed hesitant to answer her. "I promised I wouldn't say anything, but I think it's kind of a moot point now…"

Veronica looked intrigued. "What?"

Jughead sighed. "Archie… had an affair with Ms. Grundy over the summer." Betty felt her heart stop beating for a moment. Veronica snickered. "I told him I wouldn't say anything, but if Ms. Grundy has somehow done something to Riverdale…"

"We need to tell Archie about this," Veronica stated.

Betty still hadn't found her voice. She didn't know what to think of this news. How could Archie have had an affair with Ms. Grundy? That's what he'd been doing all summer? That's why he'd been acting so weird around Betty recently? Ms. Grundy must have done something to him… must have influenced him somehow. The Archie that Betty knew never would have acted the way he was acting. Suddenly given a new explanation for her friend's behavior, Betty was determined to save him… to get her friend back.

She nodded eagerly to Veronica and Jughead. "Yes, we need to tell Archie."

The three made plans for how they would move forward with the information they had. Betty and Veronica planned to talk to Archie later that day about Ms. Grundy and everything else they suspected. Meanwhile, Jughead would research everything he could about Jennifer Gibson and Archie Comics.

Betty and Veronica found Archie at a booth in Pop's later that day. Archie glanced up at the girls as they approached, likely wary of their determined faces.

"What's up, guys?" Archie asked as they sat down opposite him.

Betty glanced at Veronica, unsure where to begin. Veronica looked at Betty, saw that she would have to get this conversation in motion, and turned back to Archie, pursing her lips.

"We know you've been having an affair with Ms. Grundy," she blurted.

Archie froze. His mouth opened as though he were about to respond, but no words came out. His eyes shifted between the two girls, searching for an explanation. Of why they were there, how they found out, or whatever else he may be questioning them on.

"Jughead told us," Betty continued softly.

Archie clenched his jaw. "He promised he wouldn't say anything. I need to—" He started to stand up, but Veronica held up a hand to keep him at the table.

"Jughead had to tell us. We have reason to believe that Ms. Grundy is not who she says she is," Veronica explained.

"Everything in Riverdale has seemed different since Ms. Grundy showed up. Remember how nice everything used to be? The whole town was just so peaceful and happy. Now everyone is rude and violent and Jason is dead. Everything is so much darker and just horrible now. And it all changed when Ms. Grundy showed up last year," Betty said.

"Why do you think Ms. Grundy had anything to do with any of that? People change. Things change. Maybe Riverdale just grew up; maybe you just grew up and see the world differently now," Archie defended. Betty was getting frustrated at how quickly he was to dismiss her concerns in favor of Ms. Grundy. It hurt, she wasn't going to lie. She really wanted him to see her side of things.

"Ms. Grundy showed up in Riverdale out of thin air. Doesn't that seem a little strange to you? Everyone just acted like it was perfectly normal. No one seemed to question why we got a new teacher all of a sudden, and it was just like she'd been here the whole time," Betty said. Archie leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms, but didn't say anything.

Veronica nodded. "Everything about her is a huge question mark. How much does anyone really know about her?"

Archie leaned forward again. "None of that really matters. Do you have any hard evidence?"

Betty looked over to Veronica, who gave her a small nod. "Jughead found a driver's license. It's got Ms. Grundy's face, but not her real name. The name on the license is Jennifer Gibson."

Archie shrugged. "So she's got a fake I.D. That's not anything that unusual."

Betty sighed. "Jughead also found an old Riverdale newspaper from a few years ago. It has an obituary in it… for Geraldine Grundy."

Archie finally looked like he was understanding the severity of the situation. "What?" He asked incredulously.

"Geraldine Grundy died seven years ago," Betty stated.

Archie slumped over in his seat. He was silent, and it looked like he was thinking hard about all the new information. "So what do we do now? You think she's somehow responsible for changing Riverdale? How does that even work?" He finally asked.

"We also found a comic book," Veronica admitted.

Archie raised a skeptical brow. "A comic book?"

Veronica nodded. "It's titled 'Archie Comics'. From what we could tell, it's a comic book about our lives at Riverdale High School. All of us are in it. We found it in Ms. Grundy's desk at school."

"Can I see it?"

Betty let out a small relieved sigh. It appeared that Archie was finally believing in them. Hopefully now he would join them and try to help figure out what Ms. Grundy—or Jennifer Gibson—did to Riverdale. "Jughead has the comic book. He said he was going to try to find out more information about it. We should go see him."

Archie nodded, still looking a little dazed, but now somewhat determined. "Let's go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I'm not going to make any promises this time about when I'll have the next chapter done. I'm just going to say: hopefully soon. The first chapter of this fanfic got more recognition with comments and kudos etc. than any other fic I've written (I mean, considering it's only been up for a day.) So I'd love to hear more from you guys about what you think, or if you want to share any theories of where I'm going with this, or where you think the show is going next, I'd love to hear from you!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I really wanted to have this posted before 1x04 came out, and I made it by 20 minutes. Cutting it real close. Which means probably no one will read it before the episode airs, but oh well. I'm 99% sure that whatever happens in 1x04 will refute what happens in my story, so I wanted to have this finished by the time it aired so I wouldn't lose the motivation to finish it. Anyways, this is probably the last chapter, unless I decide to do a sort of epilogue chapter. Now, a warning before you start reading: there are a lot of complicated topics that I did my best to explain, but some of them just don't make any sense, so I apologize for that. There are also some weird timeline things that don't really work out, so feel free to yell at me in a review about them. I'm sorry, I didn't have time to work out all the kinks. I hope you enjoy the ending to my story, regardless of its flaws.

"This is… us," Archie said, setting down the comic book that he'd just been reading. He looked between his friends, searching for an explanation.

Betty nodded. "We don't know how this is even possible, but we think Jennifer Gibson has something to do with the fact that everything and everyone in Riverdale has changed in the last year. That comic book shows us the way we used to be, except that it's also about our sophomore year. So it's like the comic book is depicting the way this year should've gone for us."

"That doesn't make any sense," Archie said.

Jughead rolled his eyes. "We know it doesn't make any sense. That's why we need to interrogate Jennifer Gibson and make her tell us what she did to Riverdale!"

Archie averted his gaze and tapped his thumb against the desk he was sitting in. "Are you absolutely sure Ms. Grundy is responsible?"

Veronica and Betty shared a look. "It's the only logical conclusion," Betty finally stated.

"Fine," Archie grunted, standing up. "But I'm the one who's going to talk to her."

He turned to leave, but before he could take more than two steps, Betty stopped him.

"Archie!" She called.

Archie turned abruptly. "What?" He yelled.

Betty blanched, not used to hearing Archie raise his voice. She hesitated before continuing, and when she did, she spoke softly and calmly. "Just be careful. If she's responsible for changing the town, she probably had something to do with Jason's murder."

Archie's eyes widened a small amount, as though he hadn't taken that fact into consideration. He didn't say anything else, however. He simply nodded and continued to make his way back out the door.

"Are we sure that he's okay to do this?" Veronica asked. "I mean, he's kind of emotionally involved in this."

"If he doesn't get us the answers we need, we'll just have to go out and find them ourselves, won't we?" Betty challenged, meeting Veronica's questioning gaze with a glare.

* * *

 

Archie paced in front of the door, anxious about knocking. He didn't know what he was going to say. How do you just ask someone if they've somehow magically altered the reality of a town? How do you accuse someone of being responsible for the murder of a teenager? Especially since Archie had been… romantically involved with the woman he was about to question.

Steeling his nerves, Archie knocked on the door.

Ms. Grundy opened the door and looked up at Archie with a surprised look on her face. She gasped, and quickly looked around outside behind Archie.

"Get in here, quickly," she whispered, ushering him inside the house. Once he was inside, she shut the door and turned to face him once again. "You shouldn't be here Archie," she admonished.

Archie shook his head. "This has nothing to do with that."

Ms. Grundy—Jennifer Gibson, Archie kept reminding himself—tilted her head. "What are you doing here then?"

Archie crossed his arms over his chest. "I know you're not Geraldine Grundy."

Jennifer gave a small nervous laugh. "What are you talking about Archie?"

"Betty and Jughead found a driver's license. With your face, but not the name Geraldine Grundy. Then they found an obituary for a Geraldine Grundy who died seven years ago." Jennifer let out a small sigh and looked away from Archie. "So? Who are you?" Archie asked. "And what are you really doing here?"

Jennifer Gibson sighed, then removed her glasses from her face, setting them down with a look of disdain. When she looked back up at Archie, he was surprised to see how her normally sweet and innocent face seemed to have morphed into something darker, more twisted.

"I guess it's all up now, isn't it?" She asked rhetorically. She gave a small shrug. "Not like it matters anyway. I've done what I came here to do, so I guess I can leave any time now. I was just hoping to… enjoy the scenery a bit longer." She said the last words while checking out Archie's body in a way that made him wish he were wearing five more layers of clothing.

"What is it you came here to do?" Archie asked, suddenly taking Betty's warning more seriously.

Jennifer gave a small smirk. "Have you ever noticed how everyone in this town has always lived here? And no one ever leaves?"

Archie furrowed his brow, not sure what this had to do with anything. "Hermione Lodge left a long time ago, and Veronica had never been here before," he pointed out.

"That's true," Jennifer admitted. "Though it took a lot of convincing to get her to leave."

"And I'm guessing you had something to do with that?" Archie asked.

Jennifer nodded, grinning. "I suppose I should start my story at the beginning, shall I? It seems only fair, especially because I can't let you leave this house alive anyway."

Archie's heart skipped a beat. She truly planned to kill him. He needed to get word to Betty, Jughead, and Veronica, and in order to do that, he needed to appear somewhat calm.

Jennifer led Archie over to the sitting room of her house, where she urged him to take a seat, while she reclined in a chair across from him, propping her feet up on the coffee table. Somehow, the fact that she acted so different as Jennifer than she had as Geraldine made the whole situation easier for Archie. It was like she was a totally different person than the one he'd been attracted to.

"Alright. So, the story from the beginning," Jennifer began. As she was getting better settled in her chair, Archie reached a hand into his pocket and felt for his phone. It was easy to call Betty, since her number was on speed dial. Then he turned the phone on mute so Betty could hear him, but he couldn't hear her. All this while still watching Jennifer, hoping he didn't look conspicuous. "Well, as you know, my name is not Geraldine Grundy. My name is Jennifer Gibson. I used to be a student at Riverdale High School. When I was a freshman, there was a captain of the football team. Well, obviously there was a captain of the football team. But I'm trying to be dramatic. Every girl in school wanted to be with the captain of the football team, including me.  _Especially_ me. I mean, I'd lived right next door to him my whole life, so obviously I was in love with him. It's just like Betty being obsessed with you, right?"

Archie clenched his jaw at the insult to Betty. She wasn't obsessed with him, and the feeling certainly wasn't one-sided, even if he didn't love her the way she loved him. Jennifer seemed to find joy in Archie's discomfort.

"Anyway, the captain of the football team had eyes only for the head cheerleader. I know, cliché, right? Well, that's how it went. The two of them got married right out of high school, and then had kids a few years later. But I was already gone by then. Can you guess who that captain of the football team was?"

Archie made no move to answer. Jennifer sighed and waved a hand through the air like none of it mattered to her.

"Whatever. It was Cliff Blossom," she revealed. Archie was surprised, but only a slightly delayed reaction to the fact that she'd actually gone to high school in Riverdale. "Before he and Penelope graduated high school, there was a time when they went through a rough patch in their relationship. So I approached Cliff and told him how I felt about him. You know what he did? He  _laughed_ in my face. He said there was absolutely no way he would ever go out with someone like me. I was too young, too childish for him. He and Penelope were back together the next day. I vowed that I would get my revenge on him someday. I began planning my revenge, and as soon as I graduated high school, I left Riverdale."

"Didn't you say that nobody leaves Riverdale?" Archie asked. He had to admit, he was kind of curious how this would all play out now. He also hoped that if he stalled Jennifer long enough that Betty and Jughead would be able to find him.

Jennifer smiled. "I did say that, didn't I? Well, I'll let you in on a little secret." She leaned in closer to Archie and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Riverdale isn't real."

"What?" Archie wasn't sure if he should laugh or be concerned with her mental health. Though, obviously she'd had something to do with Jason's murder and she'd already admitted that she was going to kill Archie, so she definitely wasn't completely right in the head. But saying that Riverdale wasn't real? What did that even mean?

"Well, clearly it exists to some extent. It's just not real in the sense that everywhere else in the world is real. Riverdale has always been its own happy little bubble of paradise. The rest of the world can't get in, and no one can get out." Jennifer smirked at the confused look on Archie's face. "I can't really explain to you how it all works, since it all goes way over my head, but think of it as a literal bubble that encases the whole town. If anyone in Riverdale tries to pass through the edge of the bubble to leave town, they suddenly forget their motivation to leave and turn right back around. Conversely, if anyone outside of Riverdale gets close to the bubble, they get teleported to the other side without ever realizing that they'd just passed through an entire town."

Archie couldn't even begin to think about what all this meant, and he still wasn't sure that Jennifer wasn't entirely out of her mind. "So then how did you leave? And how did you get back?"

"My motivation to leave was strong enough. It's as simple as that. I wanted, no I  _needed_ revenge on Cliff Blossom, and I would've done anything to get it. So I left. That's when I learned the truth of our little town."

"Is that also where you got that comic book?" Archie asked.

Jennifer looked genuinely surprised for a moment. "Did your little friends find that, too? Really, is nothing private anymore?" Archie didn't respond, and Jennifer shrugged again. "Well, doesn't matter. You've seen it, I assume. Yes, it's a comic book depicting your life. That's the other little secret of Riverdale. Your life, and the lives of everyone in Riverdale, are dictated by the book. He who controls the comic book, controls Riverdale." Jennifer leaned back in her chair once more and started picking at her fingernails like she was bored. "I'd been out in the real world for years, trying to come up with some major way to get revenge on Cliff Blossom. Then seven years ago, I came across this small comic book store. I was drawn to a series titled 'Archie Comics'. Can you guess what the series was about? It was all about our little town. So, naturally, I hunted down the author of the comics, only to learn that he'd once lived in Riverdale, too! So we talked for a bit, and he told me all he knew about Riverdale, and how he'd been making a profit off of the comic books based on our little town. Then we both realized that he'd been controlling the town with his books. His stories, which he wholeheartedly believed had been made up by him, completely corroborated with my memories of the people and happenings in Riverdale." A bright, somewhat crazed, smile lit up Jennifer's face. "That's when I figured out how I would get my revenge on Cliff. But first, I had to make sure it all worked. By that point I'd already gotten the comic book author so wrapped around my finger that he would've done anything I asked. So in the next volume, I decided to kill Ms. Grundy, the teacher who'd always been horrible to me, but had always adored Cliff. And she was Cliff's favorite teacher, too. I think it was well deserved. A week later, I got a notification on my phone about a memorial service for Geraldine Grundy. Now, before you ask, my phone was able to get the message because it was from Riverdale, and things from Riverdale still work in the way they would've worked had they been in Riverdale."

Archie's head was starting to hurt from all this information.

"So, obviously, I was so excited that I'd be able to change Riverdale without even trying. So I began to change things about Riverdale in the new comic books. But I realized that nothing was changing in Riverdale. I couldn't figure out why it had worked when I killed Geraldine Grundy, but not when I did anything else. Then I found out the comic book writer had been using a different laptop than the one he'd used in the past. He'd given that laptop to his younger brother, and gotten a new one for himself. I figured the laptop had to be the solution. So I hunted down the laptop and finally got it back just over a year ago. I decided to change  _everything._  Everyone in town became more rude, more conceited, more self-centered. It felt good. But it wasn't enough. I wanted to  _see_ everyone different. So I came back to Riverdale, assumed the role of Geraldine Grundy's estranged niece, and took her place as a teacher at Riverdale High School. And then, last summer, I decided to do a little hands-on damage. It was one thing to change people by writing them differently with a magical laptop. It's something totally different to cause chaos in people's relationships by messing with them yourself. Which was definitely my main motivation for all that happened with you. Not that it was a hardship, though."

Jennifer's eyes pored over Archie's body once more, and he shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"And then on the fourth of July, I heard that gunshot and it just made me think: there was more I could be doing to hurt Cliff. So the next day, I found poor Jason running around in the woods all by himself. So I tied him to a tree and thought about what to do with him. I had to leave before I could do anything, though, since I had to make an appearance at some teacher event. Really, why must teachers meet during the summer? It makes no sense. Anyway, it wasn't until almost a week later that I was able to get back to Jason. He was almost dead anyway, all dehydrated and weary from lack of food and water. So I put a bullet in his head to ease his pain, then set his body adrift in the river. I knew that if anything would hurt Cliff, it would be the death of his son, who was so much like himself."

"So what now? You've gotten your revenge, haven't you? Why don't you just leave?"

Jennifer glared at Archie. "Well, I was going to go even further and kill Cheryl and Penelope, too, but I think I will have to leave now, won't I? Because you and your meddlesome friends can't keep your hands to your own belongings. I can't silence you and your friends without causing a scene, so I'll have to leave town. But it'll still be nice to kill you first for all the trouble you've caused me." Jennifer lifted her hand, which held a gun that Archie hadn't seen before. He had no idea where it had come from, but he realized that wasn't his biggest concern at the moment, considering there was a loaded gun pointed at his head.

"Drop the gun! You're under arrest!" A booming voice announced as Archie heard the sound of the front door being kicked in.

Jennifer fumbled to quickly lower the gun and grab her discarded glasses. "What's going on, Sheriff Keller?" She asked, assuming her role as Ms. Grundy once more.

Sheriff Keller entered the room with a gun pointed at Jennifer's head. "Drop the act, Jennifer Gibson. You're under arrest for the murder of Jason Blossom and the attempted murder of Archie Andrews. As well as some other stuff that I frankly don't understand, but that's beside the point. Let's go. Put your hands behind your back."

Jennifer scowled as she followed the sheriff's orders. She turned back to look at Archie as she was being pulled away from the room. "This isn't the last you've seen of me, Archie Andrews," she threatened. She was led out of the room and Archie let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

Betty, Jughead, and Veronica all entered the room from where the sheriff and Jennifer had exited.

"Are you okay?" Betty asked. "I got your call, and as soon as we realized what was happening, we ran to Sheriff Keller. I was so worried we wouldn't get here in time."

Archie scratched his head nervously. "Yeah, you barely made it. But thank you. I would be dead if it weren't for you."

"So we were right that she's responsible for all the changes in Riverdale," Jughead commented.

"Yeah. I'm not even going to pretend I understood everything she was saying about Riverdale not being 'real'. But I guess that's a conversation for another day. Can we just get out of here?" Archie asked, desperate to leave the place where he had been almost shot.

"Definitely. Pop's?" Veronica suggested.

"Let's go," Archie agreed.

And so, the four friends left the home of Jennifer Gibson, and did their best to act like everything was perfectly fine for the rest of the evening. They'd wait to figure everything else out some other day, but for just a moment, they wanted some peace, along with the knowledge that perhaps things would start to become normal in Riverdale once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yes, that's the end. I hope you liked the story, and I hope it lets you feel a bit better about the changes made in the tv show. It's certainly helped me. I'd love to know what you think, even if it's to yell at me for all the weird elements or mistakes. Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> So I fully plan to continue writing this tonight and hopefully post the next chapter so I can better explain where I'm going with this story, but if you happen to read this when there's only one chapter posted, I hope you like it so far. Please let me know what you think!


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